Motifs that become pictorial narratives from the first moment they are viewed are typical of Franz Kapfer's work. The sculptor's installations achieve maximum effect with just a few moves and elements. Franz Kapfer's works appear like oversized comic strips or large drawings that viewers can enter and wander through. There is also a certain gloominess in the work that cannot be denied. This is not by chance, because they usually correlate with concrete historical events, the present, or everyday life in its political dimension. Franz Kapfer's works clarify what is often perceived only by chance in such a way that no one can look away, and they do so with a dose of humor and subtlety that finally makes the absurdity of some events apparent.

In the northern Macedonian capital of Skopje, a gigantic fountain with huge bronze statues has stood in a central location since 2016. The sculptures were cast in Italy, and no expense or effort was spared on transport and fabrication. The monument to Alexander the Great not only depicts the ancient military leader at a height of about 20 meters, riding towards the east with his sword raised, but also – as a sort of flank protection – four roaring lions. The sensual enjoyment of this public art ensemble is further enhanced by a periodically played popular melody by Richard Wagner, the “Ride of the Valkyries.” During the time of the so-called “Colorful Revolution” in 2016, this fountain and other structures that the government of the day had built or remodeled in an eclectic mix of styles were protected by police forces. It was feared that they would be shot with colorful paint cartridges.

A visit to the city, which was planned in a contemporary manner by international teams of architects in the decades following a severe earthquake in 1963, preoccupied Franz Kapfer. What was the connection between replicas such as the Arc de Triomphe, the Alexander Fountain, the monument to Philip II, the “Mother Monument” to Olympia, neo-historicist facade decorations, and superstructures of Brutalist architecture and the politics of the day?

In Franz Kapfer's deconstruction of the Giants' Fountain, the lion heads with their flowing manes remain visually intact. Everything else – the light shows, the canned music, even the water – is reduced to the essentials. The minimundus scale and the simple materials have a clarifying and unmasking effect.

Heike Maier-Rieper, 2022 (translation: Virginia Dellenbaugh)